This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-270690, filed Sep. 6, 2000, the contents of which are incorporated hereinto by this reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for creating fingering guidance in playing musical instrument, and a machine readable medium containing program instructions for realizing such an apparatus and a method, and more particularly to an apparatus and a method for creating fingering data based on the performance data to exhibit fingering hand images and fingering numbers on the display screen as a guidance for a musical instrument player telling which keys to play i.e. to actuate and which fingers to use therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In an electronic musical instrument such as of a keyboard type, it is convenient for the player, if a guidance is exhibited or presented on a display screen as to which keys to actuate and which fingers to use. In this connection, there have been proposed various ideas and devices for presenting fingering instructions. For example, unexamined JP patent publication No. H7-261750 discloses an idea of creating fingering data with respect to a plurality of keys to be actuated sequentially according to the note pitch differences between the consecutively actuated keys and the types (white or black) of the consecutively actuated keys, and displaying fingering instructions based on the created fingering data. The fingering instructions are presented by, for instance, exhibiting finger numbers on the indicators provided in the vicinity of the respective keys or by lighting lamps in colors corresponding to the fingering indications. Further, unexamined JP patent publication No. H10-39739 discloses an idea of preparing fingering data beforehand, creating finger motion data based on the fingering data, and displaying animated finger images on the screen.
Among the prior art devices, a device such as shown in the above-mentioned unexamined JP patent publication No. H7-261750 presents the fingering instructions by simple indications like numerals or colored lamps, which may not be intuitive for the user to grasp the fingering. A device such as shown in the above-mentioned unexamined JP patent publication No. H10-39739 presents the fingering instructions by complicated images and may not be suitable for exhibiting fingering images in real time based on performance data having no fingering date therein.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to solve the prior art disadvantages and to provide a fingering guidance creating device and method which will present fingering instructions by intuitive indications for the user through uncomplicated processing. The invention is to further provide a storage medium storing a program that is executable by a computer to configure such a device and method.
According to the present invention, the object is accomplished by providing an apparatus for creating fingering guidance in playing a musical instrument having note designating keys, the apparatus comprising: a performance data providing module which provides performance data representing a sequence of notes which constitute a length of musical performance; a fingering data creating module which analyzes the performance data and creates fingering data representing fingers to be used for operating keys among the note designating keys to designate the respective ones of the sequence of notes; a fingering image creating module which creates image data representing fingering images which include the fingers to be used for operating keys for the sequence of notes; and a display device which exhibits the images of the fingers to be used for the sequence of notes based on the image data.
According to an aspect of the present invention, each of the fingering images includes: a key range image depicting a range of the note designating keys; a hand image depicting a shape of a hand to be located at a position as determined based on the performance data representing a note to be played among the sequence of notes and on the fingering data; and a finger image depicting a shape of a finger to be placed between the note designating a key corresponding to a note to be played in the range of the keys and the shape of the hand based on the fingering data.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the fingering guidance creating apparatus may further comprise a performance data advancing module which advances the performance data for analysis according to progression of the performance.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, the fingering data creating module analyzes the performance data fraction by fraction of the length of musical performance and creates the fingering data for every fractional length of the musical performance, the analysis and creation needing a certain length of time for the fractional length of the musical performance; and the fingering guidance creating apparatus further comprises: a delaying module which delays the performance data for the fractional length of the musical performance by an amount of time equal to the certain length of time needed; and a tone signal generating module which generates tone signals for the fractional length of the musical performance based on the delayed performance data.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, the fingering image creating module creates a first type of fingering data which represents a first type of finger image having a first length and not having a nail mark to be exhibited for indicating a note designating key to be depressed, while the fingering image creating module further creates a second type of fingering data which represents a second type of finger image having a second length which is greater than the first length and having a nail mark to be exhibited for indicating a note designating key to be released.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, the fingering image creating module further creates a third type of fingering data which represents a third type of finger image having a third length which is greater than the first length and is less than the second length to be exhibited a predetermined time length in advance to the exhibition of the first type of finger image and to the exhibition of the second type of finger image.
According to the present invention, the object is further accomplished by providing a method for creating fingering guidance in playing a musical instrument having note designating keys, the method comprising: a step of providing performance data representing a sequence of notes which constitute a length of musical performance; a step of creating fingering data representing fingers to be used for operating keys among the note designating keys to designate the respective ones of the sequence of notes based on analysis of the performance data; a step of creating image data representing fingering images which include the fingers to be used for operating keys for the sequence of notes; and a step of displaying the images of the fingers to be used for the sequence of notes based on the image data.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, the fingering guidance creating method may further comprise a step of advancing the performance data for analysis according to progression of the performance.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, the step of creating fingering data analyzes the performance data fraction by fraction of the length of musical performance and creates the fingering data for every fractional length of the musical performance, the analysis and creation needing a certain length of time for the fractional length of the musical performance; and the method further comprises: a step of delaying the performance data for the fractional length of the musical performance by an amount of time equal to the certain length of time needed; and a step of generating tone signals for the fractional length of the musical performance based on the delayed performance data.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, the step of creating image data creates a first type of fingering data which represents a first type of finger image having a first length and not having a nail mark to be exhibited for indicating a note designating key to be depressed, while the step of creating image data further creates a second type of fingering data which represents a second type of finger image having a second length which is greater than the first length and having a nail mark to be exhibited for indicating a note designating key to be released.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, the step of creating image data further creates a third type of fingering data which represents a third type of finger image having a third length which is greater than the first length and is less than the second length to be exhibited a predetermined time length in advance to the exhibition of the first type of finger image and to the exhibition of the second type of finger image.
According to the present invention, the object is still further accomplished by providing a storage medium storing a program that is executable by a computer for creating fingering guidance in playing a musical instrument having note designating keys, the program comprising: a module for providing performance data representing a sequence of notes which constitute a length of musical performance; a module for creating fingering data representing fingers to be used for operating keys among the note designating keys to designate the respective ones of the sequence of notes based on analysis of the performance data; a module for creating image data representing fingering images which include the fingers to be used for operating keys for the sequence of notes; and a module for displaying the images of the fingers to be used for the sequence of notes based on the image data.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, the program may further comprise a module for advancing the performance data for analysis according to progression of the performance.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, the module for creating fingering data is to analyze the performance data fraction by fraction of the length of musical performance and to create the fingering data for every fractional length of the musical performance, the analysis and creation needing a certain length of time for the fractional length of the musical performance; and wherein the program further comprises: a module for delaying the performance data for the fractional length of the musical performance by an amount of time equal to the certain length of time needed; and a module for generating tone signals for the fractional length of the musical performance based on the delayed performance data.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, the module for creating image data is to create a first type of fingering data which represents a first type of finger image having a first length and not having a nail mark to be exhibited for indicating a note designating key to be depressed, while the module for creating image data is to further create a second type of fingering data which represents a second type of finger image having a second length which is greater than the first length and having a nail mark to be exhibited for indicating a note designating key to be released.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, the module for creating image data is to further create a third type of fingering data which represents a third type of finger image having a third length which is greater than the first length and is less than the second length to be exhibited a predetermined time length in advance to the exhibition of the first type of finger image and to the exhibition of the second type of finger image.
According to the present invention, the performance data may be provided by a recorded medium, or by an apparatus automatically generating performance data of a musical piece according to some application software containing a music composing algorithm, or further may be downloaded from a server computer via a communication network.
According to the present invention, therefore, a clear fingering guidance for the player will be created for the user intending to play the musical instrument.